Many firearms incorporate some manner of charging handle, sometimes also referred to as a cocking handle or bolt handle, allowing a user of the firearm to manually draw a bolt of the firearm to the rear. This can serve various purposes depending on the firearm. For instance, even in automatic and semi-automatic rifles, in which the firing mechanism automatically cycles the bolt under ordinary circumstances, it may be necessary to use the charging handle to clear the firearm after a misfire.
In assault rifles like the M-16, AR-15 and M-4, the charging handle enters the receiver via an opening on the rear end thereof above where the buffer tube for the buttstock extends rearwardly. The typical charging handle for such rifles includes a shaft that is inserted through the opening in the receiver and with a front end engaging the bolt and an operator portion at a rear end of the bolt engagement portion that is adapted to be grasped by the user and incorporates a latch.
The charging handle is slidable via the between a forward position and a rearward position. In the forward position, the shaft is completely contained or almost completely contained within the receiver, the operator portion abuts the opening on the receiver, and the latch engages the receiver adjacent the opening to lock the charging handle in the forward position. With the latch disengaged, the operator portion is drawn rearwardly over the butt stock/stock tube until most of the bolt engagement portion is exposed. While typical charging handles are effective for moving the bolt rearwardly, further improvements are possible.
For example, with reference to FIG. 1, an assault rifle 110 includes a receiver 112 and an accessory mounting rail 114. A prior art charging handle 120 is inserted in the rear of the receiver 112 and is operable to engage a bolt of the rifle 110. Referring to FIG. 2, the charging handle 120 includes an elongated shaft 122 extending between first and second ends 124, 126. The first end is configured to engage the bolt and the second end 126 is enlarged to form an operator portion adapted to be grasped by a user in order to slide the charging handle 120 into and out of the receiver. Typically, a spring-biased engagement latch is mounted on the second end 126 to engage the receiver 112 and hold the charging handle in place when fully inserted.
While typical charging handles are effective for moving the bolt rearwardly, further improvements are possible.